Always
by bettertoburnout
Summary: Beca x Chloe; Tragedy strikes for Beca, but can she overcome her inhibitions and let Chloe in as much as she needs to? Oneshot, from a prompt


My phone buzzed wildly on my desk, the sudden light causing me to squint as I reached to quickly silence it. It was only 11pm, but Kimmy Jin had insisted on turning the lights out early so that she could get enough sleep for an important mid-term test the next day. With this in mind, I quickly grabbed a hoodie and slipped out of the door, leaving my laptop and headphones on the bed where I had been mixing only moments ago. I pressed the phone to my ear as I struggled to drag my hoodie on with my remaining hand, giving up with it halfway across my shoulders.

"Hello?" I spoke quietly, not wanting to be overheard.

"Beca? It's Jen." I groaned slightly at the sound of her nasal voice grating down the phone. Jen was my dad's girlfriend, and my least favourite person in the world (which is saying something with Kimmy Jin and Aubrey around) and I had no idea what had possessed her to call me at this hour because I was well aware that I was also about as far from being her favourite person as possible. My piercings and tattoos made her want to drown me in holy water, and the one time I'd brought a guy home she talked to him for an hour about jesus, thus scaring him away for good. I sighed heavily.

"What do you want?" I heard her huff, and was surprised when the next thing that she said was not a snide retort.

"Beca, I'm truly sorry to be having to tell you this. Your dad is out and well, he asked if I would call for him as he won't be back for a few days." I bit my lip, worried at what she could possibly be about to tell me. I ran over several worst case scenarios in my head, all of them centering my mother. That was the only thing I could think of, that something had happened to her, but then wouldn't my dad call me himself? Surely if it was that important.

"It's Grace, Beca." I felt my stomach drop and twist painfully at the mention of my best friend's name. I knew that she'd not been coping too well with _things _lately, certain issues coming to light after a brief stay in hospital last summer, but since we'd both gone off to different colleges we hadn't spoken much at all.

"W..what happened? Is she okay?" I replied quickly, running my free hand through my hair.

"I'm so sorry Beca. She's dead." And suddenly, Jen's abrasive voice was replaced with white noise, and I vaguely noticed the wall sliding across my back, and realised that I had slid to the floor, one hand still clutching at my hair.

"No, no no no..." I whispered over and over, still unable to hear Jen's meaningless apologies over what sounded like crashing waves in my head. I let the phone fall to the floor. I don't know how long I sat there, with tears streaming down my face, but eventually I noticed a figure standing in front of me, and gradually heard them calling my name.

"Beca!" They knelt down in front of me, and piercing blue eyes met mine, filled with concern. Chloe. She reached out and brushed a tear from my cheek.

"Beca? What's wrong? I texted you like I said I would and you didn't reply, and my calls weren't getting through so I came over to check that you were okay..." She trailed off as I just shook my head, my mouth clamped shut so as to prevent my violent sobs from escaping. My body heaved with them in deafening silence, and she wasted no time in wrapping her arms around me, lifting me to my feet and helping me back into my room. Kimmy Jin remained oblivious, fast asleep in fact, as Chloe lay me out on my bed and then lay beside me, wrapping me up in a full body hug. I lay there in her arms breathing in the calming scent of her skin and suddenly felt so much safer. My sobs subsided, and when my breathing was back to normal, she drew back to look into my eyes again. I saw something in her gaze that seemed to surpass friendly concern, something that to me looked a lot like adoration. Love, even. But that was impossible, because Chloe was amazing and perfect and I was me, and there was no way that she would ever be in love with me. Was there? I allowed myself a small smile as her hand once again grazed my cheek, tracing where the tears had been. I guess I acted on instinct from then on, or maybe the fatigue that comes with crying just took over and I stopped caring. I shuffled closer, so that our foreheads were touching, and mirrored the action of stroking her cheek, then moving to brush a strand of her gorgeous red hair behind her ear. The corner of her mouth hitched up at this, along with an eyebrow. My smile widened.

"You look like me when you do that." She nodded, blinking slowly, and I thought I saw her eyes flicker down to my lips, so close to hers, before returning to meet my own eyes. It was like she was a magnet, slowly drawing me in, and I momentarily forgot my inhibitions in her pull. Pressing my body even closer to hers, I moved so that our lips grazed each other, her breath, now so shallow and tense, ever apparent upon my skin as I made one final glance up to her eyes, almost to confirm what I was about to do. Seeing no resistance, I made the contact that I had so craved since meeting her that first day at the activities fair, and it truly was all that I had imagined it to be, and more. The initial touch was tentative and gentle, but as I felt her lips move in response to mine and realised that she was just as eager as I, it grew rapidly in intensity. Heat radiated from her hands as they snaked their way around my neck, pulling me impossibly closer. Our bodies seemed to melt together like a liquid metal in a mould that was always meant to be, and we kissed with the passion that comes from the accumulation of desperate yearning. I had ached for this for so long, too long, and now that I was actually feeling her lips on mine, her hands softly ghosting across my sides and back, I felt like a bomb had finally been let off inside of me. The kiss finally died down, dwindling to smoldering looks from the embers of desire that remained within us both, our happiness evident in the grins that we couldn't prevent from breaking across our faces like the waves that bring both pain and new beginnings. I realised, in that moment, that things could be okay. I had spent so long on my own, and now that I had finally let someone in, maybe I didn't have to feel quite so lonely.

"You want to talk about it?" She asked, eyes dancing, and I nodded slowly, snuggling deeper into her embrace.

"Okay. But only if you promise to stay." She tightened her arms around me, and placed a kiss on the top of my head.

"Always." she whispered.

Always.


End file.
